Words are to a writer what nails are to carpenter or lies to
a diplomat. To do your job well you must choose just the right one for the job.
I was chagrined today to learn, some 60 years late, that the standard plural of “octopus” is not
“octopi,” as I always assumed. The Oxford English Dictionary says it is
octopuses. The OED adds that the word octopus comes from Greek, so the
plural as formed in that language, octopodes, can be used as well.
Well, I never. Thank you, Christopher
Fowler.
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2015.
